The Darkest Rose
by Cloudsong
Summary: "I suppose I should apologize," he said, tone dripping with sarcasm."It would help," Rose growled, eyes narrowed dangerously she saw her sworn-enemy from first to third year standing in front of her. "But then..I would be apologizing to someone unworthy.


It was a cold, rainy day as Rose struggled through the groups of parents saying their hearty farewells to their children. She had already left her parents at the barrier, wanting to let her parents say their longer goodbyes to her brother Hugo, who was attending Hogwarts for the first time that year. Being an over-protective mother, Hermione was worriedly reminding him the times for every meal, and where the restrooms were. "_And make sure to ask Rose if you need anything!_" she had said, her concerned gaze traveling over to her daughter for a few moments. "_You'll help him out, won't you, Rose?_"

She had assured Hermione that she indeed would, but her mother didn't seem satisfied. Rose had always been too independent for her mother's liking, while her brother was the exact opposite. It was frankly beyond Rose thinking how he would manage to live without his mother fussing over everything she did. Hugo was quite spoiled, always crying to mother when he didn't get what he wanted. It was a large irritation, and Rose had learned over the years to just avoid the boy, as he always seemed to cause trouble.

At first, Rose's will to be alone had worried Hermione. She had tried to force her to stay with the family whenever she could, but with Hugo always around demanding attention, she always managed to slip away, unnoticed. It would be an understatement to say that at times Rose was jealous of her brother. But then, at other times, they had indeed had sweet moments. Especially when they had both been younger. She would always stay up to read him stories from his favorite book of fairy tales, staying with him until he fell asleep, because he claimed he was afraid of the dark. Both of them had known that this was only his excuse for having her stay with him.

Times had changed, however, and Rose and Hugo had drifted apart. She would no longer go in to see him at night, and he didn't seem to miss it. Instead, he would spend his time being his mother's pet, with Rose taking the blame for anything he would do.

Though she wouldn't admit it, Rose was looking forward to seeing how he would live by himself. _Or perhaps mother will just have to come over to Hogwarts and live in his dormitory_, she thought. Imagining her mother packing her bags to come and stay with her brother amused her very much. Sadly, it was because that actually would be something she would do.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking into her, _hard_. A colorful array of words came out of her mouth as she dropped her trunk on her foot. As she cooled herself off, hastily picking the heavy bag up, she turned to see a blonde boy with a smirk on his face.

"I suppose I should apologize," he said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

"It would help," Rose growled, eyes narrowed to slits as she saw her sworn-enemy from first to third year standing in front of her.

"But then... no one apologizes for actions that were carried out on purpose." He laughed, eyes gleaming as he turned away, stepping up onto the steps of the train.

Rose's stormy-gray eyes flashed, and she whipped out her wand, a good curse on her mind. "Screw off, Malfoy," she snarled, raising it threateningly.

He didn't even turn away, but she thought she heard a laugh before his form disappeared.

"Back to the same?" A voice in her ear questioned. Rose turned and felt a wave of relief as she saw her best friend, Lark, standing there. "I thought you made a promise to me that you'd put up with the guy for at least the first week."

There was a muttered excuse that was barely audible from her part.

"He's an ass," Lark said mildly as she shook her head in disbelief. Everyone knew that Scorpius was arrogant, but no one seemed to stand up to his discriminations. Most of the school worshipped him. She and Rose were basically the only ones who had the nerve. And guts.

Rose nodded vigorously at this, and shoved her wand into her pocket. "Let's go in, okay? It's starting to rain." She glanced over one last time to her parents, their back turned on her as they spoke to their other child. A twist of regret passed through her, but she pushed it away as she turned towards the train, climbing the steps. She was glad she was going home now, because the place her parents lived wasn't exactly heaven.

**OoOoO**

It was about half an hour after the train departed that Hugo showed his face in their compartment. Lark had just been telling her tales about her summer, and how she had met up with her old best friend from her childhood, and Rose had listened eagerly. Seeing her brother wasn't exactly a welcoming feeling, especially while she was trying to enjoy herself.

"Mother wanted to know why you didn't say goodbye," Hugo said smugly, lifting his nose into the head much higher than he should. As he sniffed, Rose was reminded of his cat back at home, which Hermione had not let him bring. It was a vile, evil cat that she despised; always stalking about, sniffing the air to find anything to report back to her owner...

Rose's lips formed a thin line, and she crossed her arms, swinging her legs up to sit cross-legged on the chair. Something she wasn't allowed to do back at home. "I did, though," she said slowly. "Perhaps she didn't hear, with all of her talk to you about how to fold your clothes..."

Lark stifled a laugh, and Hugo scowled. "She just wants me to be well-prepared," he said hotly. "If you would be more-"

"-organized, respectful, studious..." Rose interrupted, knowing that this was what he would say; Hugo spent much of his time quoting his mother, and this was one of her favorite lines. "I know, I know. I get it. Now do you want me to introduce you to some first-year twerps or not?" Her father had made her promise to do this, and she knew she would help him no matter how insufferable he was.

Hugo again glared at her, his ears turning red. It was a quality he had inherited from his father. "You are so-"

"Save it," Rose said, rolling her eyes as she put the 'L' sign to her forehead. It was immature, but after so many years of her brother's little tricks to get his mother angry at her, she had had enough. "Now come on." She stood up and took his hand, not letting go as he tried to wrench it out of her grasp. "Be right back," she muttered to Lark, who was watching the scene with a look of amusement on her face.

He stopped struggling after he got into the presence of other first-years, who were watching the two with curiosity. As she approached a group of them, who were hanging out in the hallways, Hugo was looking as embarrassed as ever.

"Another Weasley?" a voice drawled from behind her. She whipped around, her hand tightening on her little brothers'. He yelped out in pain, and she released it after realizing that she was hurting him.

"Do you really have nothing better to do with your time than go looking for me?" Rose said, her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at the boy.

Scorpius was leaning up against the wall casually, eyes set on her as he watched with a superior look. "As if we don't have enough red-headed fools here..." he muttered.

For a moment, both gray eyes met, and the two glared at each other, Rose resisting the urge to punch him. "Why don't you go with your friends?" she hissed suddenly, voice rising with every word.

"Why don't _you_ learn how to shut up?

"I didn't start talking to you! You were the first-"

"-Insufferable, know-it-all, basta-"

The first-years looked quite terrified as the two of them continued to shout at each other, each word becoming more offensive than the next. Hugo glanced between them with wide eyes, as if he were memorizing every word so that he could owl mum and tell her all that was happening...

"-don't know _how _you can think that you can just strut around the school with that big ass of yours-"

It appeared that she had hit a nerve. There was silence for a moment as she gloated in silence. Then; "Excuse me?" Scorpius roared. "My butt is _not _large! It's not my fault if you spend all day looking at it-"

"SILENCE!"

They both stopped in mid-sentence, each one with their mouths still open as they slowly reverted on the spot, exchanging confused glances as an adult approached them.

She was tall, though had graying hair and dark brown eyes. Her eyebrows were arched in disbelief, and her mouth was twisted as she clucked with disappointment. "Cannot believe this..." she muttered. "My first day here as headmistress, and this is what I see?"

Rose stared, until the woman's words hit her like a rock. The new headmistress?

"But what happened to McGonagall?" Scorpius asked, not seeming at all fazed by her title.

"Retired," the woman said, still looking incredulous as she looked at the two. "What are your names?"

They were silent for a moment, then; "I'm Bill-" Scorpius began, then was cut off.

"Do not lie to me!" the elderly woman screeched, anger flashing through her eyes. "Your real names, please."

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose corrected, enjoying the scowl etched on the blonde.

"Yeah? Well she's Rose Weasel."

The woman snapped her fingers quickly as Rose opened her mouth to make an angry retort, cutting her off. "That is _quite_ enough," she said clearly. "I'll deal with you two once we get to the castle."

Scorpius arrogantly tilted his head. "Are you aware of who my _father_-"

"I don't think anyone gives a damn who your father-" Rose snapped, then stopped herself as the woman in front of them seemed to be shaking with outrage. "Yeah, I'll just shut up now..." she muttered.

"_Good_." The woman crossed her arms. "Get back to your compartments. _Now_."

Hugo had disappeared with his new friends, so Rose was obviously off the hook for that one. Now she just had to worry about her first... encounter with the new headmistress. As she turned away, following Scorpius, she rolled his eyes at his way of walking. When she could have sworn the woman had turned away, she gave him a shove in the shoulders, which did not have a positive reaction.

"_WEASLEY!_" Both of them quickened their pace as the woman screeched towards them. "GO!"

The only sound that came from them was Rose slamming the door to her compartment just as Scorpius disappeared from sight.


End file.
